After an extremely hungover journey on Wednesday, I arrived at Bungalow Bay Koala Village in Magnetic Island where I had booked to stay for two nights.
I was a bit apprehensive about visiting Magnetic Island as I’d recently met a lot of travellers who told me that they hated it. However, if you like all things nature, forest trails and fancy staying on the Koala Sanctuary site then you’ll really enjoy the hostel and Magnetic Island.
Due to Bungalow Bay being in the forest you’ll say hello to a variety of insects and geckos (sometimes even in your room) so if you’re not a fan of bugs I’d stay in Base which is on the opposite side of the island. If you’re anything like me and get bitten alive by mosquitoes wear mozzy spray regardless of where you stay!
On Thursday I did the two hour tour around the Koala Sanctuary. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it’s basically a tour where you learn about some of the wild animals which are on the island and throughout Queensland. You can also hold and take pictures with the animals…apart from the venomous spider. The main selling point of the sanctuary is the $18 koala cuddle souvenir photo but if you’re looking to save money I’d skip it because as you can see below, you can pet and take selfies with another koala anyway.
After the tour myself and another girl did the Forts Walk which took us about an hour and a half. Most people hire cars or scooters and spend a whole day doing the walking tracks, but to be honest, it was unbearably hot so we just did one and rewarded ourselves with an ice cold cider.
The other benefit of visiting Magnetic Island is spotting lots of wild Koalas!
We then bumped into another girl who was on our Whitsunday’s trip so we all went out for dinner and spent the night talking about every backpackers favourite conversation, travelling.
